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28-10-2003, 04:02 PM

The message
from (Dave R) contains these words:

I have just moved house and inherited a grape vine which has a bumper
crop of sweet seeded red grapes. The vine is planted outside the
greenhouse and trailed inside with the vine well supported throughout
the roof section. I am really no gardener and so am looking for advice
on how best to deal with pruning it and when to carry it out?

Someone knew what he/she was about when they planted it.

Prune when all the leaves have dropped, or in any case before the buds
start to burst.

Presuming that the vine has been properly pruned until now, you would
cut back the laterals to one good bud. Rub off any weedy ones that might
be nearer the main stem(s).

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You leave yourself with just the main stem(s) and a lot of stubby
laterals. The buds will grow very quickly once they begin, but do not be
tempted to prune any of them back until after the flowers have opened,
or your vine could bleed to death.

When the flowers have opened it should be safe to prune again. You leave
three or four leaves beyond the (first) flower truss on each side shoot
and cut off the rest to get the best results. Of course you can leave
the shoot to grow, but the resulting grapes will be small.

Do *NOT* feed the vine with nitrogen or you will get lots of growth and
few if any grapes.

I would advise getting from the library a good book on viticulture - put
it on your Christmas list - then tending the vine comes as second nature
after a couple of years.

--
Rusty Hinge
horrid·squeak&zetnet·co·uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm